


Be My Baby(Sitter)

by monroe_militia



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Babysitter AU, Because you know that you need it, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-02-07 19:50:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1911606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monroe_militia/pseuds/monroe_militia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bass Monroe finds himself in over his head when Emma Bennett dies and he finds out that he has a son; a son that is now his responsibility. Bass knows that he needs a babysitter or someone to help him look after Connor, but finding one isn't that simple. So when his best friend suggests Charlie, Bass is eager to go along with the idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sammxhill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sammxhill/gifts), [asweetdeception](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=asweetdeception).



Bass had been having absolutely no luck trying to find a babysitter for Connor. He'd only had his son for a little over a week and already one thing was becoming abundantly clear, Sebastian Monroe had no idea what he was doing and was in way over his head.

He knew that he needed a babysitter or someone to help him figure out what to do, but so far he'd had absolutely no luck trying to find one.

So when his best friend Miles pointed out that his niece Charlie was looking for a job, Bass took him up on his offer to ask if she'd be interested. After all, it was no secret that she'd had a big hand in raising her brother as a kid.

Bass knew that it was already bad enough to find his best friend's niece attractive and that it was even worse to hire her when he knew that, but he was desperate. After all, he was fairly sure that it wasn't normal for ten year-olds to live in an almost constant state of silence. Connor did occasionally speak up, but only when absolutely necessary.

* * *

When Charlie arrived at Bass's place, he was instantly overcome with a sense of relief. So far Connor had spent the entire night just sitting on the couch in absolute silence, doing nothing and looking miserable.  
He had channel surfed for a few minutes before he turned the TV back off and continued to sit in a depressed silence. Bass had attempted to talk to him, but mostly had just been ignored.

"Connor, Charlie's here!" Bass called out as he let her inside.

That earned him no response. The only acknowledgement that he received indicating that his son had heard him was Connor turning and looking over at Charlie disinterestedly before looking back away.

As soon as Bass had turned back to Charlie, while supressing a sigh at his son's lack of response, Connor's gaze went back to Charlie and he let a tiny bit of his curiosity show.

"He isn't what I'd call chatty," Bass commented.

At that, Connor rolled his eyes and then got up from his place on the couch to stalk over to a chair on the far side of the room before he went back to pretending that he didn't notice that the other two were there.

"What's in the bag?" Bass questioned, jutting his chin towards the bag that hung loosely on her shoulder.

Charlie's lips cracked into a mildly embarrassed smile as her eyes flicked down to look at her bag instead of having to meet Bass's eyes.

After a second, she seemed to gather her wits again and her smile widened a little as her gaze flickered back up to his.

"Well I remembered that there isn't exactly much for kids to do in your apartment," she admitted with a small chuckle as she set the bag down.

It was true. When she and Danny had been younger they had spent a fair amount of time with Bass and Miles at each of the men's apartments and their games tended to be made up on the spot and out of whatever they could find around them. Charlie had grown very adept at making games that could be played primarily with bottle caps.

At least that was until Miles had bought a GameCube for her and Danny to play on when they were over at his place. Charlie had a sneaking suspicion that Miles had just used that as an excuse for him to get drunk and play video games, but nevertheless Miles had gifted it to them when he eventually decided that it would get more play-time at their place.

Charlie opened her bag to reveal that very same game console, a little beaten up and old, but still perfectly functional.

Bass let out a laugh before commenting, "I remember this thing. Miles and I used to play drunken Mario Kart on it."

"I knew that was why he really bought it," Charlie commented. "Me and Danny haven't used it in years, so I figured that Connor might want it."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Bass told her, letting his exasperation make its way into his tone.

Needless to say, Bass was having a stressful couple of weeks between Emma's death, finding out that he has a son, trying to figure out how the hell to take care of a ten year-old, trying to find someone to help babysit, and falling horribly behind with work stuff. Even though he hadn't seen Emma in years, it still hurt finding out that she was dead. He couldn't imagine what losing her must have done to Connor. This entire situation was a mess for the kid and Bass had no idea what he could do to help. After all, he was a complete stranger to his son. They didn't even share a name and the one person that they had in common was gone forever.

Bass hovered for a few moments longer, feeling awkward and in the way, before he excused himself to go try and get some work done.

Once he was out of the room, Connor hesitantly rose from his chair and walked over to look in the bag that Charlie had brought. He spent a moment flipping through the few games that she had brought, noticing as he did so that there was more than one controller in the bag. He figured that probably meant that she intended to play with him. At least that might be a little less weird than just having her take over Bass's job of either trying to discretely stare at him in silence or completely ignore him.

Finally, after an admittedly long amount of time of looking through the bag, Connor tilted his head up to face Charlie as he pulled the Mario Kart box out and quietly asked, "Want to play?"

A wide smile formed on Charlie's lips as she told him, "I'd love to. Although I'll warn you, I used to be pretty good at this game."

She had been pretty good when versing her younger brother, but what she failed to mention was that the only reason that she had managed to regularly beat Miles was through cheating by blocking his view or trying to kick or elbow him to mess him up. When Rachel was there she would always try and scold Charlie, but Miles would just laugh and praise Charlie on her competitiveness.

Connor remained quiet, not seeming to have anything to say now that she had agreed to play, as Charlie hooked the system up.

After they had played a few races, she managed to get a few smiles out of him as he made his way into first and a few laughs as she complained about getting hit by items.

They were pretty evenly matched and they'd both won a few games when Charlie turned to him and asked, "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"

He shrugged and told her, "A little."

Truth be told he was pretty hungry, but he still felt awkward in this place. It was as if he was just a temporary guest in what was supposed to be his new home.

"You like pizza, right?" She questioned.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Well then I'll make you a deal. We play one more race and whoever wins gets to choose what kind of pizza I order," Charlie told him.

Connor smirked, seeming to like the agreement. He was thrilled at the opportunity to order pizza instead of having to eat any more of the Kraft Dinner that Bass had made every night since he'd been there. Bass didn't even know what the kid like to eat and he figured that all kids loved macaroni and cheese. So, with that logic in mind, he had decided to make it every night since he had no idea what else to make for Connor.

* * *

Bass had managed to get some work done and decided to give up for the time being. As he walked through the halls towards the kitchen, he heard noise coming from the living room. Not just game sounds either, voices. So far Connor had only seemed to talk when it was absolutely mandatory and seemed to be fairly miserable, so it was needless to say that it was a surprise for him to hear Connor laughing as Charlie called out in disappointment as he passed the room.

He watched the pair playing from the hallway for a few moments, feeling a mixed swirl of emotions. On the one hand, he was glad to see Connor actually seeming to be enjoying himself and part of the reason that he had Charlie here was to try and figure out how to take care of the kid and cheer him up. But at the same time, he was ashamed to admit to himself that part of him was bothered to see Connor having fun playing games with Charlie when he had just met her an hour ago while the kid could barely seem to tolerate looking at Bass for more than a few seconds at a time.

Bass shook his head to himself as he decided that he needed a drink and turned to head for the kitchen.

* * *

Charlie had managed to get back into the lead for most of the last lap, but at the last moment Connor had managed to hit her with a shell and pull in front of her right before the finish line.

"So close," Charlie told herself in a defeated tone before a smile formed on her lips. "So what kind of victory pizza do you want?"

Connor considered for a minute before he told her, "Pepperoni."

"Good choice," Charlie told him. "That's what I was going to choose too if I won… I'll be back."

With that she got up from the couch and left the room, heading for the kitchen.

* * *

When she walked into the kitchen, she found Bass leaning against the counter with a freshly opened bottle of beer and a look of defeat. Funny, she's the one who had just lost and yet he seemed to look much more beaten down than she did.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him and he nodded in response. "So is Connor. I was just going to order a pizza. Is pepperoni good?"

"Yeah," Bass responded. There was a short silence before he let out a weak laugh and took a quick chug out of his drink. "How do you do it, Charlie?"

"Do what?" She questioned.

"Connor's been living here for over a week and the most that I can get out of him is the occasional brief answer or nod or shrug," he explained. "You've been here for an hour and he's already warming up to you while I'm still just the unfortunate roommate."

"He also doesn't have to live with me," Charlie pointed out. "I'm temporary. You're the stranger that he's stuck with for good. Things are bound to be a little awkward at first, but come on. He'll get used to you."

"Yeah, I guess," Bass responded in a less than convincing tone before taking a chug of his drink and deciding to change the subject. "So… Pizza."

* * *

When the pizza arrived, the three of them ate in the living room while watching TV. After they finished, Charlie and Connor remained on the couch as Bass left the room, taking the garbage with him to clean up.

There was a brief silence before Connor asked, "Want to play again?"

"I don't know if I can handle losing again," Charlie told him with a smile. "Why don't you check if your dad wants to play?"

There was a pause before Connor responded bitterly, "Not likely… He's too busy with all of his adult stuff to even bother paying attention to me… He doesn't want me. He's too mature to deal with having a kid around."

Charlie cracked up a little at that, earning her an annoyed look from Connor.

"Sorry," she told him. "It's just that I've known your dad for a long time and, trust me, mature is not a word that I would use to describe him... Look, he didn't even know about you until after-"

She cut herself off.

"You can say it," he told her. "It's not like my mom's going to come back if you don't say that she's dead."

Charlie shot him a sympathetic look before she told him, "He's trying, but he doesn't really know what he's doing… It's weird for him too."

After a few seconds, Connor decided to go at least try and ask. He figured at the very least he would be able to end this conversation with Charlie before she would start trying to talk to him about his feelings after everything that had happened.

* * *

Bass was pleasantly surprised when Connor came into the kitchen and asked if he wanted to play Mario Kart, keeping his hands in his pockets and his facial expression indifferent as he spoke.

Bass knew for sure that Charlie had something to do with the request when he re-entered the living room with his son and she shot them both a wide grin.

When the duo first began to play it was very quiet, but by the time that they had finished a couple of races there was a smile on both of their faces and some of the tension had begun to defuse between them.

Charlie smiled a little to herself thinking that as far as first days on a job went, this had been a pretty good one.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie had been Connor's babysitter for a little over a week when Miles' birthday came around. Connor was still pretty quiet and still felt more like a temporary guest in his new home than anything, but he had started to warm up to Bass a little. They now managed to get through small talk fairly successfully and had a sort of understanding.

"You're going to like Miles," Bass assured his son.

Connor didn't see why his dad seemed to think that. Bass had been talking about Miles far too much lately for Connor's liking. Connor didn't even know the guy and he was not looking forward to meeting him in the slightest.

* * *

"Danny!" Charlie called out excitedly the instant that she walked around the corner of her parent's house.

She hadn't seen her brother anywhere near enough since she had moved out to live in her own apartment, so any chance that she got to see him was exciting for her.

As he watched Charlie run over to hug her brother, Miles sarcastically commented, "I thought it was my birthday."

Charlie heard him, so as soon as she was done hugging her little brother she turned around and gave her uncle a big hug.

"Happy birthday, Miles."

"Eh, it's alright I guess," he responded as if she had been asking him a question.

Charlie rolled her eyes at that before looking around. Besides her family, Aaron and Maggie were already there. Aaron was a friend of her dad's that had used to babysit her and Danny when they were little and had become like a part of the family. Maggie lived in the house next door and Charlie hadn't been able to stand her at first. She had thought that Maggie was nosey and annoying, but had learned afterwards that she was just lonely because she lived so far from her family. Now Maggie was practically like a second mom to her and Danny.

* * *

When the car stopped Connor was less than eager to get out. He had no desire to go to Miles' birthday.

Wasn't it a little weird to go to the birthday party of someone that you don't even know?

He wasn't looking forward to having to deal with a whole bunch of strangers feeling sorry for him because of his mom. Plus everyone there would know each other but him… At least Charlie would be there though. That should at least make things a little less terrible.

Connor followed his dad as he walked around to the Matheson backyard. As they walked in, five adults who Connor had never seen before all simultaneously turned to stare at him in silence.

At least the teenager Charlie was sitting with didn't seem to be staring, but Connor still wished that he could just go back to the car...

* * *

Charlie had been catching up with Danny, but as soon as she saw Bass and Connor she turned to her little brother with a grin and told him, "I have to go, my new best friend's here."

"What? You replaced me?" Danny asked in a playfully offended tone.

"Sorry, he's cuter than you," Charlie responded, shoving her brother's shoulder on her way past him.

"What?" Danny called out after his sister as she began to walk away. "I'm adorable!"

Charlie began to laugh loudly as she continued to walk away from him.

"Come on, Charlie. Admit it! I'm adorable and you know it!" Danny shouted after her with a grin.

Charlie turned around to look at him as she continued to walk, now backwards.

She called back, "Fine, you're the second cutest person I know."

"I'm the cutest, right?" Miles questioned with a smirk.

"Not even close," Charlie told him as she stopped and turned to look at him. "You're like bottom three."

"Wow. Aren't you going to be nice to me today?" Miles asked in a tone of mock hurt.

"Do you want me to answer that?" Charlie questioned.

"Not really."

"That's what I thought," she responded smugly before turning to walk the last few steps over to Connor.

Connor wasn't sure how to feel about how easily Charlie was interacting with everyone.

He already felt so incredibly out of place as his dad started heading away from him over to Miles.

"So you actually do have a kid," Rachel commented as Bass passed by her. "I wasn't sure that Charlie wasn't just babysitting you."

"No, she babysits us both," Bass responded with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm going to get something to drink," Charlie told Connor. "You want to come with me and get something?"

"Yeah," he answered.

He was relieved to get away from the others, if only for a minute.

When Danny noticed that Charlie was leading Connor inside, he called over, "Hey, Charlie. Get me a beer."

" _Don't_ get him a beer," Rachel instantly called out after him, causing Danny to grin widely.

"Get me something," Danny told his sister.

"Only because you're so adorable," she called back to him before stepping into the house.

Once inside, she turned to Connor and told him, "The ones who falsely think that they're cuter than you are Miles and my brother, Danny. And then my mom was the one that didn't want me getting Danny a beer."

"What about the other ones?" Connor asked.

Charlie walked past the cake that was sitting in a box on the table and opened up the fridge. "The other girl is Maggie. And then the guy with the beard is Aaron. And the other one's my dad… Is Coke good?"

"Yeah," Connor responded and then paused for a moment. "…I don't even know what I'm doing here. I don't even know your uncle."

"Well it's not like your dad had a babysitter for you today," she joked with a grin as she handed him his drink. "Besides, Miles' birthday is kind of a family thing."

"Which means that I shouldn't be here even more," Connor pointed out as she grabbed two more bottles of Coke for her and Danny.

"The opposite actually," she told him. "Maggie and Aaron and your dad aren't technically family, but they're as close as you can get without actually being related. Your dad and Miles are best friends, practically brothers. You're his kid. That makes you family too. So of course you're supposed to be here."

Connor didn't see it. He was barely family with his own father. These people weren't his family, they were Charlie's.

"Now come on, I've got to go give my brat of a brother his drink," she said with a smile.

* * *

"Finally I get to meet the kid," Miles commented. "…Whenever Charlie quits hogging him."

"Good luck with that," Bass told him.

"What?" Miles asked.

"I told you about how unsocial he is," Bass responded. "I don't know how much meeting him is going to really be worth. He might not say anything. And if you're planning on waiting for him to be away from Charlie, you're going to be waiting a while. The kid loves her."

"I can't really blame him," Miles pointed out as he watched Charlie and Connor walk back out of the house.

* * *

"When did Grandpa get here?" Charlie asked as she sat back down next to her brother and handed him his drink.

"While you were inside," Danny responded. "When do you think?"

She elbowed him in the side and he immediately elbowed her back.

"So then it's just Nora that's missing," Charlie commented.

"Miles said she's going to be late," Danny told his sister.

"Who's Nora?" Connor asked in a quieter voice now that he was in front of Danny.

"Miles' girlfriend," Charlie answered. "They've been dating forever, although they've had more than their share of dramatic breakups."

"I still say that they're eventually just going to end up getting married only because she knows that he's never going to propose and takes charge," Danny responded.

"He might propose," Charlie argued. "When he's like sixty. Or drunk."

"Or sixty and drunk," Danny suggested.

"Or on a bet," Charlie added.

"No, it's going to be a game of chicken that ends in them getting married because neither of them is willing to back out," Danny said with a grin.

Connor remained silent since he had nothing to contribute to the conversation, even if he wanted to.

* * *

"Go get me a beer, Bass," Miles ordered.

"Why don't _you_ get _me_ a beer?" His friend questioned.

"Because it's my birthday," Miles pointed out. "That makes everyone else my slaves for the day."

"You should try using that line on Rachel or Maggie and see if you even make it back alive to tell me the story," Bass suggested.

Miles knew that Bass was right about those two and that the chances of Ben getting them drinks were low, so he decided to call over to his niece.

"Hey, Charlie! Want to get us some beers?"

"Get them yourselves," Charlie called back.

"Come on, you got Danny a drink," her uncle complained. "…You'd be my favourite niece."

"I'm your only niece," Charlie retorted.

"Fine, then I'll like you better than Danny," Miles offered.

"Wow, I am just getting demoted all over the place today," Danny remarked.

"Well don't feel too bad," Charlie said, fluffing her little brother's hair up as she stood up. "Miles is just lying to make me get him stuff... And besides-" She grinned over at her brother. "-I was always his favourite."

Connor wasn't thrilled that he was being left alone with Danny.

"So, how old are you?" The older boy asked after a few long seconds.

"Ten," Connor responded. There was a silence long enough for him to feel uncomfortable before he asked, "What about you?"

"Nineteen," Danny responded. "But everyone here still seems to think that I'm a little kid."

Connor nodded and then went back to sitting in silence and staring off somewhere else.

* * *

When Charlie reached Miles and Bass with their drinks, she immediately pulled the bottles back as soon as the two men tried to grab them.

"First you two both have to agree to get your own drinks from now on," she told them.

Charlie and Bass hadn't really hung out together without Miles before Connor, but they had become closer during the last week. Bass knew not to mess with her, so he just agreed and was instantly handed his beer.

Miles, on the other hand, just sat in silence as he held eye contact with Charlie.

"I can sit here all day," he told her after at least half a minute had passed.

"And I can stand here all day, Miles," she retorted as she opened the beer that still remained in her hand. "I've even got a drink."

Miles continued to look at her challengingly, so Charlie brought Miles' beer to her lips and began to drink.

"Alright, fine," he said before she had managed to even get more than half a sip down. "I'll make someone else get my drinks from now on… Are you happy, Buzzkill?"

"Close enough," she told him before handing his drink over.

* * *

Connor and Danny had been sitting in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Connor felt no need to try and talk to him and Danny had no idea what to do with Connor, so they just remained silent as Connor stared over at where Charlie was now sitting with his father and Miles, smiling and laughing.

Connor hated being here. He hated being left alone with strangers and he hated having to make small talk with them. Just like he hated having to watch just how well everyone else here knew each other and he hated how his dad hadn't said a word to him or even paid any attention to him since they'd shown up. And he especially hated the way that Miles was hogging Charlie and his dad and how they were too busy laughing at some stupid thing that stupid Miles had just said to even notice that he was upset. And absolutely most of all, he hated Miles Matheson.

He didn't want to watch them anymore and he wanted to get away from Danny before he would ask another question that was just designed to fill the silence. No one here cared about him, so why should he pretend to care about any of them?

They weren't his family. His dad barely counted and everyone else wasn't his family at all. His mom was his family, but she was gone. And now he was stuck at this stupid party with these stupid strangers all because of stupid Miles.

Connor got up and walked away, heading towards the house.

* * *

"Hey, where's your kid going?" Miles asked when he noticed Connor angrily stalking away from Danny. "He looks pissed."

"Don't know," Bass responded. "I'd better go check."

Charlie had been busy shooting her brother a questioning glance, but when Danny shot her a confused shrug back she turned and offered, "I'll go."

On her way to the house, she stopped next to her brother and asked him, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Danny responded defensively. "I swear."

* * *

Connor hadn't known where he was going until he was already back inside the kitchen and spotted the cake on the table. He eyed the icing that spelled out _Happy Birthday Miles_ for a moment before his anger took over and he shoved the cake off of the edge of the table and onto the floor.

He felt better for about half a second until he heard the sound of the door opening behind him and fear took over.

He turned around to see Charlie standing in the doorway and shot her a guilty look. He didn't regret ruining the cake, but he did feel guilty about Charlie catching him in the act.

"I don't want to be here anymore," he offered as explanation when she stepped into the kitchen.

Charlie took in the scene around her and then made a quick decision as her mother walked into the room from the opposite doorway.

"What happened in here?" Rachel questioned as she looked at the bits of cake all over the floor.

Connor turned to Charlie, waiting to see what she would say.

To his surprise, she responded with, "I forgot that the cake was there and elbowed it off the table. Sorry… I'll go to the store for another one."

Rachel eyed the pair for a few seconds before she told her daughter, "Alright. Go now… I'll clean this mess up while you're gone."

"Thanks," Charlie said in a relieved tone before turning to Connor. "Do you want to come with me?"

He nodded his head, not seeming to want to speak or make eye contact with either of the Matheson women.

Charlie turned to head for the door, but as Connor began to follow her Rachel said, "Charlie. Stay here a second."

Charlie turned to Connor and he walked out of the door to wait for her outside.

"What?" Charlie asked as she began to walk back into the kitchen once he was out of sight.

"You weren't the one who knocked the cake over," her mother stated. "Were you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Charlie insisted.

"I know that you're covering for him," Rachel pointed out. "I've seen you do the same for Danny a hundred times. I can tell."

"It was an accident," Charlie said, giving up on trying to convince her mom that it hadn't been Connor and deciding on a different strategy. "The kid's already having a tough day. I figured that I could cut him a little slack and not get him in trouble from people that he barely even knows over an accident. So can we please not make this a thing?"

"Okay," Rachel agreed before letting out a small sigh. "You should go. I've got a lot to clean up."

"Thanks, Mom," Charlie told her, really meaning it.

Once she was outside and had caught up to Connor she told him, "I just have to talk to your dad for a second first."

Great... Maybe Charlie had covered for Connor in front of her mom, but he was sure that she was about to go sell him out now... In front of Miles.

Whatever. He didn't care. Nope. He'd go over there with her. He didn't care if Miles knew that he hated him. In fact he wanted Miles to know. He wanted everyone to know. Maybe if he was lucky he would get kicked out of this stupid party. What did he care if his dad found out what he'd done?

Connor nervously followed a few steps behind Charlie until she had stopped in front of the two men. He hesitated a few feet behind her, just close enough to hear.

He shot Miles a quick glare, but as soon as Charlie began to speak his gaze shifted downwards to stare at the ground. Okay, maybe he was still afraid of getting in trouble. Things with his dad were already weird enough without him ruining everything.

Luckily for him, Charlie once again surprised him.

"I've got to run to the store, is it alright if Connor comes along?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," Bass told her.

Connor felt relief wash over him when that seemed to be the end of the conversation as Charlie turned to him and said, "Let's go."

* * *

The first few minutes of the car ride were spent in complete silence before Connor finally got up the nerve to ask, "Why did you cover for me?"

"You seem like you're already having a bad enough day," she told him. "You didn't need anything else added to that."

"Thanks," he murmured quietly.

"So why did you do it?" Charlie questioned after a pause. "I mean I get that you didn't want to be there anymore because you barely know anyone. I just don't see the connection between that and smashing Miles' cake."

They were in the grocery store parking lot now, but she wasn't planning on getting out of the car until she figured out what was wrong.

"It's your stupid uncle's birthday, isn't it?" Connor muttered, looking out the window as if the other parked cars had suddenly become infinitely interesting to him. "And my dad's been driving me insane telling me how much I'm going to like Miles for days... And now he's completely ignoring me for Miles. And I don't see why I had to go. Obviously they'd both be happier if I'd stayed home… And I hate Miles."

Charlie hesitated for a moment, trying to decide where to start.

"I think that your dad was just excited about you meeting Miles because you're both important to him."

"No, I'm not," Connor argued, still keeping his attention fully on the outside of the window.

"Yes, you are," Charlie insisted. "And he isn't ignoring you for Miles. It's Miles' birthday. People are going to pay attention to him."

"My dad hasn't said anything to me since we got there. He just walked off to go see Miles," Connor pointed out.

Charlie made a mental note to try and hint at Bass to pay more attention to his son once they got back. But for now the best that she could do was try to talk to Connor.

"I'm sure that he isn't trying to ignore you," she told him. "And he and Miles wouldn't be happier if you hadn't gone. Miles told your dad to bring you. He was excited to finally get to meet you just like your dad was excited to have you two meet."

Connor shrugged, clearly not wanting to believe her.

"You don't have to like Miles, but you should at least give him a chance," she told him. "Okay?"

"Fine," Connor mumbled unenthusiastically.

* * *

By the time that they got back, Ben had already fired up the barbecue.

As Charlie went to go take the bag with the new cake to the kitchen, Bass called out, "Hey Connor, get over here before Charlie tries to steal you again."

Charlie paused in the doorway to shoot Bass a grin. She hadn't even had to hint at him to pay attention to Connor.

He smiled back over at her before she turned inside the door.

Connor walked over and sat down next to his dad, still feeling uncertain but a little bit better. He wasn't eager about Miles being there, but he had told Charlie that he'd at least give her uncle a chance.

"About time I get to meet the kid," Miles commented. "Especially with how much you talk about him."

Connor was surprised by that. Maybe his dad talking about Miles to him all the time wasn't quite as bad if he did the same about him to Miles…


	3. Chapter 3

When some of the food was cooked, Bass checked what Connor wanted and then went to go get food for them and Miles, who insisted that he shouldn't have to get up on his birthday.

"You know, you're getting pretty good at this whole dad thing," Charlie commented as soon as he got within earshot.

"No, I'm really not," Bass responded with a slight smile. "You're good with Connor. I'm barely getting by."

"Don't sell yourself short," she told him with a grin. "He likes you."

With that said, she walked away before he could try and argue with her.

* * *

"Kid, if you're ever looking for an embarrassing story about your dad, then I am definitely the person to come to," Miles told Connor with a grin as Bass walked back over carrying three plates of food.

"I dare you to think of one embarrassing story you've got on me that isn't also embarrassing for you," Bass challenged as he handed out the food.

As Miles grabbed his plate from his friend, a tilted smirk formed on his lips. "You’d make a great waitress, Bass.”

"Thanks," the other man muttered back sarcastically as he sat down. "I take tips."

"Not that great," Miles assured him.

"So I take it this means that you can't think of any stories that aren't embarrassing for you too?" Bass questioned.

"I'm thinking," Miles responded.

"I guess there's a first for everything then," Danny commented as he and Charlie walked up with their plates.

Charlie grinned at her brother's joke as she sat down.

"Here, kid, your mom's not looking," Miles told Danny as he handed his beer over. "Since you're such a pleasure to be around."

Danny let out a small laugh before taking a large chug out of his uncle's beer.

"She's turning this way," Miles warned after a minute or so. "Quick, give it back before we're both dead."

Danny obeyed before turning to his sister and telling her, "I think I like Miles better than you now... He actually got me a beer. Plus you gave Connor my spot as favourite."

Connor didn't seem to feel very bad about stealing Danny's position, since he just smirked over at the Matheson siblings with an air of triumph.

"Mom was watching me like a hawk,” Charlie pointed out in an amused tone. "What, was I supposed to do? Spike your drink? And at least you're still my second favourite."

"I'm third, right?" Miles questioned.

"Yeah. It goes Connor first, then everyone else tied for second, and then you," Charlie informed him with a playful grin.

"I remember when you were little and used to be nice to me," Miles commented.

"You know I love you, Miles," Charlie told him with a grin. "And with that in mind, are you ready to get your ass-kicked playing football again?"

"Again?" Miles asked in a tone of disbelief. "Sorry, you must be delusional."

"You two have this argument every year," Bass pointed out. "Every _single_ year since she was younger than Connor."

"So I'm guessing we're playing tackle this year, since you're so cocky," Miles told his niece sarcastically.

"Sorry, we can't," Charlie told him in a tone of false sympathy. "I'm too afraid that you might break a hip, old man."

"Alright, that's it," Miles said as he set his plate aside and rose to his feet.

"What are you doing?" Charlie questioned nervously as her uncle moved towards her.

Miles just smirked at his niece in response before grabbing her and lifting her off the ground, causing her to emit a small shriek of laughter.

"Miles, stop!" Charlie complained through her laughter as he threw her over his shoulder.

He didn't listen and instead turned to walk away from the rest of the group.

As Charlie flailed in his arms, she demanded, "Where are we going?"

"Not we, _you_ ," Miles told her. "You're going into Maggie's pool."

The pool in Maggie's backyard, along with her letting the Mathesons use it whenever they wanted, had been a major part of what had sold Danny on Maggie when she had first moved in.

"No, don't!" Charlie threatened through her laughter. " _Miles!"_

Miles paused a few steps away from the pool as he told her, "If you don't want thrown in, then you'd better start making up for that old man comment."

"Fine!" Charlie shouted out in a rushed panic. "I take it back! You're not an old man, you're as young as you are mature! You make Connor look ancient!"

There was a brief pause before Miles dropped her.

Charlie clenched her eyes shut, only to be caught a few inches lower by her uncle. He had just been pretending to drop her to scare her.

"You'd better get far from this pool before I change my mind," Miles warned her as he set her down on the ground.

Charlie rushed a few short steps away before turning to face him once again, a small smirk forming on her lips.

"Go ahead, push me in," Miles encouraged as he stretched his arms out to the sides. "You and Danny are going to soak me once Nora gets here anyways."

Charlie moved to charge at him, but stopped as soon as Miles' arms moved to try and grab onto her.

She backed away a few steps before she told him, "Alright, fine. Truce for now?"

"At least until we finish eating," Miles agreed.

* * *

"Well I guess we know who bought the cake," Miles pointed out as he stared down at the frosting letters that spelled out 'Happy Birthday, Old Man'.

Charlie shot him a wide grin of innocence as Connor looked down at the ground.

* * *

"It's my birthday, which means that I get to choose first."

"Said like the mature adult you are," Charlie complimented her uncle.

Every year they had a small football game that became more than a little competitive. They were choosing teams now and Charlie was the other team captain, as she had been for the last several years.

"Bass," Miles chose first, unsurprisingly.

"Well then I choose Danny," Charlie responded.

"Smart choice, Charlie," Danny told his sister sarcastically. "Choose the kid with asthma first."

It was Miles' turn to choose next.

"I'll take Connor."

Connor was surprised, but didn't say anything about it. He still wasn't a fan of Miles, but the guy wasn't quite as intolerable as Connor had first thought.

"Then I take Grandpa," Charlie replied.

"Seriously? Danny and Gene?" Miles questioned. "Are you trying to lose, Charlie?"

"I don't think I'm playing this year," Gene told them. "I am getting way too old for this."

"Oh, come on," Charlie begged. "Don't you want the chance to knock that smug look off of Miles' face?"

"...Sorry, kiddo. I'm going to have to sit this one out and let you do that for yourself," Gene told her.

"Alright, then I'll take dad," Charlie said with a grin. "Your pick, Miles."

"Rachel," Miles selected, glad to have her competitiveness on his team.

Maggie never played, she always just reffed for when there were huge disagreements instead and preferred it that way. That left just one person.

"Hey, last to get picked. It's just like high-school all over again," Aaron commented. "But I think that I'm going to have to agree with Gene on this one and sit this year out."

The Mathesons and Bass were all very competitive and Aaron very much was not a sports guy, so he was more than happy to sit the game out.

Charlie was down a player, but quickly found a solution as a figure turned the corner into the yard.

"Nora!" Charlie called out happily. "You're just in time. Come join my team and help kick your boyfriend's ass!"

A grin formed on Nora's lips as she responded, "You had me at boyfriend's ass."

* * *

They had been playing for a few minutes and Miles’ team was in the lead, thanks to Bass and Miles' seemingly psychic ability to predict exactly what the other was going to do.

Danny had the ball and was running, but when Miles began to head towards him, the teenager began to cough and slowed to a stop.

As Miles reached out a hand to him, Danny fell into a violent coughing fit and hunched over, dodging Miles' hand as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Shit, are you alright?" Miles asked as Rachel, who had been covering Charlie, began to rush over to her child with concern written all over her face.

A smirk formed on Danny's lips as he suddenly cut off his fit mid-cough and quickly threw the ball over to Charlie, who was now open and scored a touchdown.

Miles shoved his nephew roughly in the chest. "You cheating little-"

His words were cut off when Danny stumbled back a step and erupted into a whole new fit of coughing.

"...I'm not ...Kidding ...This ...Time." Danny wheezed out between coughs and gasps for air. "...Can't ...Breathe ...Mom..."

"What the hell did you do to him, Miles?" Rachel demanded, her tone a mixture of anger and panic.

Danny stopped coughing once again and straightened his body to show off a wide grin.

He had taken his inhaler before the game and was doing pretty well with the running. He had just decided to use his asthma as an advantage in the game, as well as to mess with his uncle.

He let out a laugh at the look on his mother and uncle's faces as Charlie walked back over and high-fived him on her way by.

* * *

A while later, when Miles had the ball, Nora tackled him to the ground to stop him.

"You do realize that we're playing touch football, right?" He questioned after she landed sprawled on top of him.

"I know," she responded with a smirk.

She brought her lips to his for a quick kiss before moving to get up.

* * *

Connor was not having fun. In fact, he had reached the point in the game where he either didn't move or just slowly walked since he knew that there was no point in even trying.

Sure, no one ever covered him. But what was the point of moving when you were the ten year-old that no one ever passed to, no matter how open you were?

He was debating quitting playing. After all, what was the point? He could get excluded just as much sitting over with Aaron, Gene, and Maggie as he was getting over here.

It wasn't so much that they were intentionally excluding him, although it sure felt like it, as it was that he was short and difficult to spot past the other players.

Just as Connor was about to give up on ever getting the ball, Miles panicked when about to be tagged by his brother and just threw it to where he had hoped that Bass would be.

As the ball flew through the air in a high ark to the end zone, where no one was standing, Connor took matters into his own hands and charged over there.

He made it just in time to dive and catch the ball.

That finally captured him some attention.

"He definitely got that from me," Bass bragged, causing a sheepish grin to form on his son's lips.

After that, Connor did manage to get the ball more often and actually began to maybe enjoy himself a little.

* * *

By the time the game ended, everyone was exhausted and no one was sure what exactly the score was. That didn’t stop Miles and Charlie from both insisting that their teams had been the victors though.

As everyone was relaxing after the game, the two youngest Mathesons and Nora snuck off together into the house.

"Well, Nora's here and those three are off alone," Miles commented as he rose to his feet. "Time to go get my defense ready while they plan their attack."

"Dude, please tell me that you brought a change of clothes this year," Bass begged.

"Nope," Miles told him matter-of-factly. "Bringing spare clothes is like admitting defeat."

"If you say so," Bass responded as his friend began to walk away. "Have fun in your soaked clothes later."

"What's going on?" Connor questioned.

"Every year Charlie, Nora, and Danny sneak attack Miles with water guns," Bass explained. "So when they go off to coordinate their attack, he goes to his car and gets his own water gun and hides it where he can get it when he sees them trying to sneak up. And every year he's falsely convinced that he's not going to get soaked this time."

* * *

"We are definitely running out of ways to sneak up on him," Charlie commented as she lay sprawled across her old bed on her stomach.

"It's an annual thing," Nora pointed out from where she sat cross-legged on the corner of Charlie's bed. "That makes it kind of difficult to effectively sneak up on him when he's always watching for it."

"Plus, we don't know where he's hiding his gun," Danny, who was seated on top of an old wooden dresser, pointed out. "You'd think he'd be running out of good hiding places by now."

"Or that you two would be able to find it when it's your house," Nora added. "Well, not yours anymore, Charlie. But still, you should be able to find it at least once."

"I swear Miles comes in the middle of the night and just spends hours searching for the perfect spot," Charlie responded.

"Actually he hides it while you guys have this conversation," Connor said from where he now stood hovering in the doorway, seeming a little unsure of whether or not to enter the room. "And I just saw where he hid it."

Nora and Danny looked over at him in surprise as Charlie began to grin.

"I bet that he would never see an attack coming if he could see all three of you," Connor added, feeling a little nervous.

He felt a little like he was intruding on their tradition and wasn't sure whether his help was welcome or not.

"So this is Bass's kid?" Nora questioned. "I think I like him better than his dad."

A smirk formed on Connor’s lips at that.

* * *

"Is it just me or are they more obvious than usual this year?" Miles asked as he watched his three opponents walk to sit down a little ways away with their weapons blatantly hidden behind their backs. "They're so obvious, that I may actually get to strike first this year."

After Miles got up and began to walk over to where he had hidden his gun, the other three rose to their feet to follow him.

Miles quickened his pace as he turned the corner behind the shed with a smirk on his face. He didn't get more than two steps around the turn before the smirk fell from his lips.

Well, there was his water gun. There was just one slight complication, the grinning ten year-old holding it.

As Connor began to shoot, Miles turned back around the corner only to be surrounded a few steps later while completely unarmed.

As he was attacked from all sides, Bass decided to give Miles some help since he was so outnumbered.

As Miles focused on trying to wrestle Nora into stopping shooting him, Charlie turned her gun on Bass as he headed over.

She didn't have much water left though, so she decided for a strategic hit to the crotch of his pants.

As she began to laugh, Bass grabbed Charlie's water gun out of her hand before grabbing her by the waist and pulling her against him so that she couldn't escape as he turned her own weapon against her.  
She only began to laugh louder when he pulled the trigger only to discover that her gun was out of water.

"Plan B then," Bass told her, his lips just inches from her ear as he tossed the empty water gun aside.

Charlie didn't get the chance to calm down enough to ask what Plan B was before he had bent down and grabbed her under the knees to scoop her off of her feet.

"I guess you're going in the pool after all," he told her with a grin.

"Bass, don't," she insisted as he headed for Maggie's back yard. "Please!"

He stopped when he reached the edge of the pool, letting the suspense get to her.

"Alright, I'm sorry," she insisted through laughter as she turned to bury her face in his chest instead of facing the water. "Just please don't."

Bass let out a small sigh.

He began to set her down as he told her, "You'd better consider yourself lucky, Cha-"

He didn't get any further since, as soon as she was on the ground, Charlie grabbed onto the front of his shirt and pulled him backwards. She purposely threw them both into the pool before he could finish speaking.

She resurfaced shivering as she complained, "This pool is freezing."

"You threw yourself in it," Bass pointed out as he pushed his wet hair back out of his face with one hand.

"Yeah, but I still have a change of clothes here," Charlie retorted in a victorious tone as she began to head for the edge of the pool. "You don't. I'm pretty sure that means I win."

"Hey, at least it's better than the wet crotch look you gave me," Bass commented as he pulled himself up, out of the pool.

Charlie let out a loud laugh at that, her head falling backwards from it.

Once she was done laughing, he crouched down and offered out his hand to help her out of the pool.

She took it and couldn't help, but notice the muscles where his wet shirt clung to him as he pulled her up.

* * *

Bass and Miles had both ended up having to borrow dry clothes from Ben, which amused Charlie to no end since neither was very happy about it.

When the party was almost over, Charlie walked into the kitchen to find Bass grabbing himself and Miles each yet another beer.

"Nice outfit," she told him in an amused tone.

He set the beers down on the counter as he turned to face her.

While he and Miles were walking around looking like complete idiots in their borrowed clothes, Charlie was looking stunning as ever... Maybe even more so than usual.

He definitely didn't understand why she'd left the tight black jeans and blue tank top behind when she had moved out because she looked amazing in them right now. Her hair had nearly finished drying and had a slight curl that he was finding proved to be very distracting as he looked at her, searching for the words to form a response.

"We can't all look as good as you," he told her.

"Maybe the clothes aren't the perfect fit and look a little out of place on you," Charlie admitted. "But you still look pretty good."

Bass smiled at her.

"I'm sure Connor was thrilled that you guys let him trap Miles," he told her as he leaned his weight back against the counter.

"It was his idea," Charlie responded with a big smile. "He came to us with a plan and information after his dad told him all about the soak the hell out of Miles tradition."

"It was a good plan," Bass pointed out proudly as he leaned forward again.

"He's a smart kid," she agreed. "And you are definitely getting pretty good at the whole parent thing."

Bass hesitated for a moment before he took a step forward and pulled her into a kiss, bringing a hand up to her cheek as he did so.

She could taste the beer on his mouth as she tentatively kissed back.

He pulled away suddenly, leaving them both out of breath, and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Shit, Charlie," he said, still close enough that she could feel his breath when he spoke. "I shouldn't have done that. I was drinking and I _really_ shouldn't have done that."

He turned away and headed back over to the counter. He figured he'd had enough, so he put his own beer back before grabbing Miles'.

"Hey, Bass?" She asked, causing him to pause in the doorway and turn back to look at her.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Do me a favour. Tell me whether you still think that was a mistake or not after you sober up."

He nodded then hesitated in the doorway for a few more seconds as he stared over at her before he finally stepped back outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Connor didn't like his new school at all. He didn't know anyone here and there were a couple of kids that were real jerks that he couldn't stand being around. And yet, somehow, he had been invited to the birthday party of a kid that he had spoken to only once... But hey, that was still more than he had talked to Miles before attending his birthday.

For the most part Connor just ignored the kids who were jerks. In fact, that was his original plan when an especially annoying kid loudly commented, "I heard that Connor kid got invited. I guess that Scanlon's parents must have made him invite everyone."

Connor rolled his eyes as he heard snickering behind him, but continued to pretend he hadn't heard a word. He knew that it wouldn't help any to turn around.

"I heard that even his own parents don't want him," Ed continued loudly. "He was just a mistake... I bet that his mom died just to try and get away from him."

Connor's hands balled into fists at the mention of his mother.

Ed must have noticed, since he immediately leaned as far forward in his desk as possible before adding, "And if his dad is smart, he'll do the same. He must already be sick of him."

* * *

"What happened to your face?" Charlie asked as Connor got into her car at the end of the school day with a painful looking black eye.

"I got into a fight," he mumbled back quietly as he stared out the window at the rest of the kids so that he wouldn't have to watch Charlie's reaction.

"Why?" She asked him.

Connor was silent for several long moments before he finally admitted, "He was making jokes about my mom."

Charlie wasn't sure how to react to that. Sure, she probably shouldn't be condoning fighting, but she also wasn't sure that she could really get mad at him when she thought about the circumstances.

She considered for a moment before she decided that she would let Bass determine if there would be any consequences and started the car.

* * *

Connor was in a particularly untalkative mood as he waited for his father to get home from work. He knew that his teacher had already called, which meant that there was zero chance of trying to hide what had happened from Bass.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Connor was afraid. He hadn't gotten in trouble for anything yet since moving in with his dad, so he had no idea of what his father's response would be.

What Connor did know was that he wasn't looking forward to Bass being mad at him and that he was already uncertain enough about whether or not his dad wanted him around on a good day.

Connor wondered whether Bass was going to wait until Charlie was gone or if he would just yell at him in front of her. He also wondered what could possibly get taken away from him as a punishment... It wasn't like he had much around here. If his dad decided that he wasn't allowed to use the TV or video games, then he was going to be completely back to square one and have no idea of what to do in this place.

As each minute passed, the pit of dread in Connor's chest tripled in size until finally he heard the sound of the front door opening.

Connor debated getting up and going to attempt to hide in his room, but he figured that it wasn't a very effective strategy. Plus, if he put off facing his dad for any longer, he would just be making himself fear it even more.

"I heard you got in a fight," Bass commented as soon as he spotted his son.

Connor nodded his head in response.

"Did you win?" Bass asked him.

Connor was taken off guard by his father's question. He wasn't sure of which response his dad would prefer, so he just opted for the truth.

"Yeah," he mumbled out almost inaudibly as he stared intently at the TV screen that he had spent the last hour ignoring completely.

"Good." Bass responded simply. "The little prick deserved it."

Connor looked up, expecting his father to be joking. Instead he was surprised to find that a grin had formed on Bass's lips.

Connor's teacher had called Bass earlier at work and told him all about the fight, including what she had overheard right before the fight had broken out. Although she had insisted that violence was not an appropriate response, no matter how horrible the things that the other kid had said were, Bass tended to disagree. He thought it was a perfectly reasonable reaction and was thrilled that his son had won the fight.

Connor was even more shocked when that seemed to be the end of the conversation as Bass headed for the kitchen, stopping only to ruffle his son's hair on his way by. Any other day, Connor would have complained and pulled away from his father's reach, but he was so relieved that he wasn't in trouble that he let Bass have his moment.

* * *

Bass had just grabbed himself a beer when Charlie walked into the kitchen and grabbed the drink out of his hand.

"You can have it back as soon as you tell me whether that kiss was a mistake or not," she told him.

A laugh escaped Bass's lips at that.

"Do you really think that I'm that much of a light-weight?" He asked her. "And you do realize that I can just get myself another beer, right?"

"You can, but you won't," Charlie insisted. "And if you want this one back, all you have to do is answer one simple question. Was that kiss a mistake?"

Bass studied her face for a moment before he finally responded with, "Yes."

"Okay," Charlie said.

She was glad to have the distraction of his drink to look down at as she passed it back over to him. She decided to try to hide her disappointment and forced a grin onto her lips as her gaze flickered back up to meet his.

"See? That wasn't so hard," she told him before turning to head back towards the living room.

"Wait a second, Charlie."

She stopped and turned around to find that he was now sitting on top of his kitchen counter, staring over at her with an unopened beer on the counter-top beside him.

"You're Miles' niece," he pointed out. "And Connor's babysitter. That kiss was definitely a mistake."

Charlie knew that what he was saying was probably true, but still was eager to escape the conversation. She wasn't sure of why he had stopped her from leaving the room. This was just starting to get uncomfortable.

"But Connor's got that birthday party Friday, which leaves my evening wide open," Bass added with a devious grin. "You got anything planned?"

"Didn't you just say this was a bad idea?" Charlie questioned.

"A bad idea's never stopped me before," he pointed out.


	5. Chapter 5

"Connor, come on." Bass called out, before muttering more to himself. "Move your ass."

When the boy still didn't come running, Bass sighed under his breath before turning to go look for him.

As he turned into his son's room, he asked, "Come on. Are you ready?"

Connor glared up at him. "I don't want to go."

"What? Why?"

Connor's decision couldn't have come at a worse time. They were already late leaving, Bass needed to get back before Charlie showed up, and he hadn't even started making dinner. Perfect.

Connor still hadn't given him any answers so Bass decided to press it a little further, "I thought you and this kid were friends."

"He invited everyone." Connor countered in an annoyed tone. "And I'm not really interested in going to a party filled with people I either hate or don't talk to."

Bass bit back a sigh as he told him, "You can stay home, but are you sure you want to?"

Connor scowled at his father.

"I'm positive... Relax, I'll hide in my room while Charlie's here," he promised in a scornful tone. He muttered under his breath as he added, "I may as well get used to staying out of the way while you give each other all your attention anyways."

Dammit. The kid liked Charlie, didn't he? Bass should have seen this coming. He certainly couldn't blame Connor for being interested.

It was already too late to call Charlie and try to reschedule and Bass wasn't sure that having Connor know he cancelled because of him wouldn't make things worse.

"You don't have to hide in your room, okay?" Bass asked him. "And me and Charlie aren't going to start ignoring you."

Connor remained silent. Sure, his dad said that now, but he still thought that there were only two options for how things could go. Either he'd end up miserable and ignored while they acted all couply, or else they'd break up and it would ruin things completely and Charlie would never be around. Either way, Connor knew that he would end up losing.

"Things are going to be weird whether things work with you and Charlie or not," he finally pointed out.

This was just another change that Connor got no say in. He was sick of everything changing. Nothing in his life was normal anymore and now even the one hint of normalcy he'd found since moving was being disrupted.

Bass leaned his weight onto his forearm that was resting halfway up the door frame.

"Things don't have to be weird," Bass countered before he paused for a moment. "...I'll make you a deal. How about you pick a movie and when Charlie gets here we'll all watch it?"

* * *

When Charlie arrived, Bass immediately stepped outside and closed the door behind him. That earned him a questioning look.

"Change of plans," he told her. "Connor didn't want to go to that party and he's convinced that things are going to get weird now, so I told him that he could stay home and pick a movie for the three of us to watch… Sorry."

"You're right, you should be sorry," Charlie teased playfully. "You should have forced your son to go to the party he doesn't want to go to and completely ignored the fact that he's upset... I should just go home now because caring about your kid makes you completely undateable."

"I was also planning on making you dinner, but I ran out of time and didn't even get the chance to start," Bass admitted.

"And the deal-breakers just keep on coming," Charlie joked. "Let's order take-out and watch whatever movie Connor picked out. In case you haven't noticed, I like Connor… And I like take-out."

* * *

Charlie sat down on the couch as she watched Connor intently reading the back cover on the box of a DVD.

Eventually he made his decision and put a disc in the DVD player before turning and coming over to sit down next to Charlie on the center seat of the couch.

"I wasn't expecting to get to see you," Charlie commented.

"Sorry." Connor muttered guiltily.

"Are you kidding? Now I get two of you for the price of one," she insisted with a grin.

A sheepish smile formed on Connor's lips in return.

Bass, who had been on the phone ordering food, walked back out of the kitchen, only to find Connor sitting in the only seat next to Charlie. He wasn't sure whether to be mad or just laugh as he sat down in the empty chair.

Charlie shot him an amused look from out of Connor's line of sight and he had to smile over at her before turning his gaze to his son. "Did you pick something?"

* * *

There was still more than half an hour left of the movie when Connor dozed off, curled up across two spots on the couch.

Charlie wondered to herself how he had been able to fall asleep in the middle of a scene filled with loud gunfire, but she didn't say anything out loud. She watched the rise and fall of his chest for a few moments as she appreciated how adorable he was as he slept. Somehow he seemed more vulnerable looking than he ever was while awake.

She looked over to Bass and watched him staring intently at the TV screen for a few moments before rising to her feet.

His gaze tore from the screen and he looked over at her and a small smile tugged at his lips.

Charlie sat down on the arm of his chair.

Bass glanced over at his son before looking back over at her and questioning, "Hot date, huh?"

"Actually, I've been having a great date with Connor," she joked. "…But now's your chance to steal me while he's asleep."

"Hmmm, aren't you a little old for him?" Bass questioned.

"Aren't you a little old for me?" Charlie countered in an amused tone.

"Maybe, but in my favour, you also can't get arrested for dating me," he countered.

"True. I guess you win by default," she told him.

"By default? Really?" Bass asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I guess I deserve that. I know this wasn't exactly the date you were expecting."

"Maybe it wasn't the date I was expecting," she admitted. "But I'm still having a good time… Even with the cheesy action movie."

Bass let out a laugh at that. "Connor's asleep. We can turn the movie off."

"But then I won't know how it ends," Charlie pointed out.

"All you'll miss is a couple more dramatic gunfights, probably a helicopter chasing a car, maybe the main character getting into a car crash that probably should have killed him," he told her. "But in the end he'll miraculously survive, incredibly outnumbered, while all the bad guys get caught and/or killed."

"Hey, spoilers," Charlie insisted as she playfully hit him in the chest.

"Sorry," he muttered out. "But haven't you ever seen an action movie before? They're kind of all the same."

"So then why do you own so many?" She challenged as dimples stood out on her cheeks.

"Because I'm a guy," he responded in an amused tone. "And all guys like watching stuff get blown up… It's a rule."

They watched for a few minutes longer before a grin formed on Charlie's lips as a helicopter began to shoot down the street just as he had predicted.

She brought her attention away from the screen as she slid from the arm of the chair so that she was sitting next to him in the chair.

When he turned to look at her, she brought her lips to his.

Bass broke off the kiss a few minutes later as he commented, "Not that I'm complaining, but I thought you wanted to watch the end of the movie."

"Well, I did," Charlie told him before her lips twisted up into a wry smirk. "But somebody ruined the ending for me anyways."

"Somehow I don't regret that," Bass insisted before bringing his lips back to hers.

* * *

"Hey, you think that if I carry him to his bed that he'll wake up pissed tomorrow?" Bass questioned once the movie was over. "Because I've fallen asleep on that couch before and it's a real bitch to wake up on."

Charlie looked over at Connor as she thought it over for a moment before she turned her gaze back on Bass.

She figured that Connor would get mad and embarrassed if the subject was brought up, but that he would otherwise like the fact that Bass had been looking out for him.

"No, I think he'd be happy you did," she told him. "Just as long as you don't mention it in front of him."


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie was having lunch with her mom and Nora the next day, when Nora smirked over at her and questioned, "So, how did your date go last night, Charlie?"

"Wait, you had a date?" Rachel asked, turning to look over at her daughter with a face that showed that she clearly thought that Charlie should have brought this up immediately.

"How did you know that I had a date last night?" Charlie asked.

She definitely had not mentioned it to anyone, so she was surprised that the other woman had known about it, especially since her and Bass hadn't exactly been planning on having it become public knowledge yet.

"Are you really surprised that I found out?" Nora asked her. "Your date and I share a boyfriend, of course I know."

Bass told Miles everything, so of course Miles knew. Nora had caught Miles talking on the phone with Bass and, even though she'd only gotten bits and pieces, she had her ways of convincing Miles to tell her what was going on. She had perfected her methods over the years.

"Wait a second. You went on a date with Bass?" Rachel questioned, filling in the blanks from Nora's comment.

"Yes."

"You still haven't told me how your date went," Nora pointed out, leaning forward on her elbows as her curiosity grew even larger. "Is that a good sign or a bad sign?"

"Neither," Charlie insisted, a little defensively.

"Oh… So it was boring," Nora interpreted.

"No. It wasn't," Charlie insisted. "It wasn't boring."

"So then it was interesting," Nora prodded. "But good interesting or bad interesting?"

A small smile formed on Charlie's lips as she answered, "Good interesting. Not as planned, but good."

"Not as planned?" Nora prodded a little further.

"Connor changed his mind about going to a party and ended up staying home last minute," she explained. "But it was still a good date."

"Charlie, if you're going to date Bass, then you had better be sure that this is something that you want," Rachel warned her. "Because that boy has been through enough and, whether things work out between you and Bass or not, it's going to be a big change for him."

"Connor's fine," Charlie insisted, deciding that was easier than trying to explain how her and Bass were trying to help Connor adjust to the idea. "And this _is_ something that I want."

"Okay then," Rachel said. "You should bring him over for dinner tomorrow."

Charlie practically choked on her drink in surprise.

"You're kidding, right?" She questioned hopefully.

"No, I'm not."

"No," Charlie responded bluntly. "Not happening."

"Why not?" Rachel questioned.

"There are a lot of reasons," Charlie pointed out. "Like the fact that, with me and Bass over at your place, that leaves no one with Connor."

"Connor should come too then," Rachel insisted. "It'll be fun… Nora, you should come over too. And bring Miles with you."

Charlie felt like slamming her head back against a wall. She knew that what her mother really wanted was the same thing that she always wanted when Charlie started dating a new guy, to invite him over for a thorough interrogation.

"Mom, we haven't even had a real date yet," Charlie pointed out. "Or at least not one with just the two of us."

* * *

Bass was a little surprised when Charlie showed up at his door on a Saturday afternoon.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked as he let her in.

"I'm here to invite you and Connor to a night in my own personal hell," she told him.

Connor didn't know what his babysitter was talking about, but he was convinced that he didn't want to go. If Charlie didn't want to go, then he was sure that whatever it was would be horrible.

"Personal hell?" Bass questioned. "What does that mean?"

"It means that my mom found out about us and thought that it would be a good idea to have you two over for dinner tomorrow," she responded. "She even invited Miles and Nora over to witness the torture."

"Charlie, I've had dinner with your family before," he pointed out. "I think I can handle it. Hell might be a bit strong of a word for it."

"You haven't seen my mom interrogating a date of mine before," Charlie insisted. "She practically takes them into a room alone and shines a bright light in their eyes while she's trying to scare them off. Somehow I doubt that she's planning on making an exception with you, especially considering how much she's insisting on this dinner happening... I tried to get out of it, sorry."

"It's not a big deal," he told her. "I think we can make it through one meal, right Connor?"

Connor was less than eager about it, but he figured that he'd already been in the way and ruined their date the night before so he owed Charlie. That's why he didn't say a word in protest and instead just nodded his head a little. He thought that he'd at least try going… Even if it was supposed to be awful, even by Charlie's standards.

* * *

When Charlie got Bass alone a few minutes later, she told him, "I thought that we'd at least be able to go on a date with just the two of us before we ended up getting stuck at one of my mom's nightmare dinners."

"Come on, they can't be that bad," he insisted. "Besides, I think I can handle your family after Connor staying home and crashing into the middle of our date last night."

Charlie wanted to point out the fact that Connor also hadn't been doing everything in his power to ask them about questions that they haven't even thought about yet, let alone discussed. She wanted to point out that the most Connor had done to make things weird was sit in the only spot next to her, but she decided against it.

Instead, she just hoped that he was right and that her mother would tone it down a little since she already knew Bass. Somehow, Charlie thought that might make things worse. After all, that also meant that her mother already knew about the bad in Bass too. Still, maybe they would get lucky and Rachel would go easy on them. After all, she couldn't be too awful with Connor there. Could she?

"Besides," Bass told her. "After this dinner's over, maybe we can get Miles to watch Connor sometime and go out on a real date."

A smile spread across Charlie's lips as she told him, "I like the idea, but maybe get someone other than Miles to watch him."

"Why not Miles?" Bass questioned. "He babysat you and Danny and you two turned out alright."

"Yeah, but Connor's not exactly his biggest fan," she pointed out. "I don't know how he feels about him now, but he hated Miles at first. So maybe at least check with Connor before asking Miles about it."

"We'll figure something out," he assured her. "We'll leave Connor with Miles, or someone else to watch him, and then I'm taking you on a real date."

"One without both of our families at it?" Charlie joked.

"Don't worry," Bass told her with a chuckle. "Only one of our families… Tops... I swear."


	7. Chapter 7

Bass frowned as his son ignored Rachel and followed Charlie through the door before walking straight into the Matheson home's living room. 

Rachel looked between the doorway the boy had disappeared through and the man who was still standing on her doorstep before commenting, "Why don't you two come in?" As Bass stepped through the doorway, she muttered under her breath, "Make yourselves at home." 

Charlie shot him a look over her mother's shoulder to silently inform him that the comment was just going to be the tip of the iceberg for the night. Bass still wasn't convinced that the night was going to be anywhere near as bad as she had been advertising it as though. 

Danny walked into the room then and looked over at Bass as he commented, "Your kid's sleeping in a chair in there." 

Bass's brow furrowed in confusion as he asked, "Already? We've been here for less than a minute." 

As they reached the doorway of the living room, Charlie was about to volunteer to go talk to him, but she stopped when Bass headed into the room ahead of her. He walked over to the armchair where his son was curled up with his back facing the rest of the room and leaned against the back of it as he looked down at where his son was pretending to be asleep. 

"So, do you just fall asleep whenever you don't want to be somewhere?" He asked in an amused tone. 

"If I did, I'd just sleep through everything," Connor muttered. He looked up at his father then as he commented, "I figure if I sleep now, then this'll be over with sooner." 

"What makes you think this is going to be so bad?" Bass questioned. 

"Charlie said it's going to be torture," Connor pointed out. 

"I think she meant for me and her, not for you," Bass told his son with a laugh. 

The ten year-old frowned, "I changed my mind. I don't want to be here anymore." 

"Alright, I'll make you a deal," Bass responded as he leaned closer to his son. "Give this dinner a chance. If you still want to go, then we'll claim you're sick and leave." Connor eyed him skeptically for a moment, so he added, "If you want, we can even start claiming that you're not feeling so great already." 

Connor considered for a second longer before silently nodding his head and sitting up. 

* * *

"Nice eye, kid," Miles commented within seconds of he and Nora's arrival. "Heard the other guy came out of things a hell of a lot worse." 

Miles stuck his arm out as he walked closer and Connor stared blankly at the man's outstretched hand for several seconds. His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before he hesitantly moved to high-five Miles, all while still looking quite uncertain about what was happening. 

Bass didn't seem to notice though since he was far too busy grinning over at Miles as he insisted, "Damn right, he did." 

"Oh, so you're proud of your son for beating up another kid," Rachel commented. "That's great parenting, Bass." 

Connor shot a quick glare in Rachel's direction as he decided all at once that he did not like her. 

"Hell yeah, I'm proud," Bass insisted. "Little prick deserved it for talking shit about Emma." 

Connor moved to turn to look over at his father as curiosity got the best of him at the mention of his mother, but he quickly abandoned that movement to instead lurch away as his father reached out to try to rumple his hair. Bass froze with his arm halfway to his son before pulling back as Connor felt a small surge of regret at having instinctively dodged his father's affection. 

* * *

It was clear that Rachel was easing her way into full-blown interrogation mode throughout the meal as she gradually became less and less subtle about her comments that were directed over at Charlie and her date. Finally Miles decided to ease a little of the tension as he turned to look over at Connor and joked, "Looks like you're going to have to find a new babysitter, huh?" 

Connor set his fork down, none too gently, on his plate before, without a word, he got up and left the room. 

Charlie turned her attention to her uncle as she commented, "Nice, Miles. Really." 

As she did so, Bass rose to his feet to follow his son out of the room. 

"What?" Miles asked innocently, as if it hadn't been one of the worst questions he could have asked in front of Connor, who was already worried enough about how different things were going to be now that his father and babysitter were dating. 

"How about from now on we save the interrogating and stupid comments for until Connor isn't here anymore?" Charlie pleaded. 

Miles raised his hands in a sign of innocence, but still felt the need to add on, "Well, he's not here now. So I guess that means I can point out that you're going all over-protective of him like he's your new Danny." 

"Why can't he be another Danny?" Danny questioned. "Why does he have to be the new Danny?" 

Miles shrugged. "Sorry, kid. You're going to have to talk to Charlie about that one." 

Charlie rolled her eyes and chose not to dignify that with a response. 

* * *

"I don't want to be here anymore," Connor insisted as his father walked into the room. "Why is you getting a girlfriend a bigger deal than you getting a kid?" 

"Who said that it was?" Bass countered. 

"No one bothered throwing me a mandatory dinner," Connor pointed out. "And they're asking way more questions about you and Charlie than they are about me." 

Bass was surprised by that as he questioned, "Did you want an interrogation dinner?" 

"No," Connor admitted. That wasn't the point though. He was upset that no one had even cared enough to consider throwing him one. 

"The reason you didn't get to be interrogated under the pretense of a pleasant meal isn't because they don't have question," Bass insisted. "They're just trying not to overwhelm you with questions. Although, I'll give you that they're not exactly doing the best job of that tonight." 

"I bet I can get them to stop asking you two any more questions in front of me without saying anything," Connor commented. 

"Manage that and I'll give you ten bucks," Bass offered. 

A smug smirk slowly crept onto Connor's lips and he stood back up as he taunted, "Get ready to be out ten bucks then." 

* * *

Charlie shot Miles a warning glare as Connor walked back into the room with Bass following shortly behind him. Connor sat back down at the table and began to eat again as if nothing happened, while the rest of the room remained in an unsure silence. That silence was quickly broken though as Nora decided that it was as good of a time as any to tell an embarrassing story about something that Miles had done earlier in the day. 

The rest of the meal passed fairly easily after that and Connor was content to eat in silence. When everyone was finished eating and Ben moved to start grabbing plates up off of the table, Connor turned to look at his father with a self-satisfied grin as he insisted, "You lost. You owe me ten bucks." He seemed quite pleased that he had managed to win the bet without having to do anything. 

"I know," Bass responded. "But I thought that for ten bucks I would have at least gotten to see how you were planning to pull it off." 

"Mostly I was just going to look horrified until they stopped asking questions," Connor responded with an innocent shrug. 

"Oh, so now you're betting money with a ten year-old?" Rachel asked in a tone that was one part amused and one part judgmental, the second of which was probably in large part due to the fact that she had already flipped the switch into interrogator mode. "Your parenting skills are astounding, Bass." 

"He's not that bad," Connor defended. 

He regretted those words the instant that he saw the dopey grin that appeared on his father's lips as Bass proudly questioned, "Did you hear that? I'm not that bad." 

"I heard," Miles insisted as a smirk formed on his lips at his friend's reaction. "And now I know what I'm getting you for your next birthday. A shirt with 'Not that bad' written across the front in big letters." 

Connor groaned as he complained, "I change my mind. You're terrible." 

"Too late, you already admitted that I'm not," Bass insisted, a little too proudly for someone who had basically just been called sort of okay. "And you're getting ten bucks out of a bet that I would have lost no matter what. You can't complain." 

"Whatever. Have fun getting interrogated," Connor told him with a devious grin as he rose from his chair. 

Nora had already been helping Ben to clean up and Danny knew that it was only a matter of time before Rachel would try to recruit more helpers, so he rose to his feet too and offered, "Hey, Connor. I'm going to go play video games, you want to come?" 

Connor thought it sounded like a lot more fun than staying with the so-called adults, so he nodded his head and followed Danny out of the room. 

As soon as they were through the doorway, Danny smirked as he commented, "Thanks, you just got me out of having to help with the dishes." 


	8. Chapter 8

Bass soon discovered that Charlie had not been kidding about her mother's interrogation mode. He had seen Rachel stressed out and at her worst over the years, but this was something that he had not experienced before, although it was clear from Charlie's attitude that she had dealt with it before.

He had known that they hadn't put an overwhelming amount of thought into things, but he realized just how much they still needed to sort out as Rachel bombarded them with questions that they were not at all prepared for.

She wanted to know whether Charlie was still going to work as Connor's babysitter, which she clearly did not think was a good idea. She wanted to know who the new babysitter would be. She wanted to know how much Charlie would still be seeing Connor after that. She wanted to know whether Charlie was going to end up working as his free full-time babysitter. She wanted to know whether Charlie was looking for a new job and what she was going to do. She was even interrogating them on details unrelated to their relationship about Connor that Bass hadn't even begun to consider and it was all beginning to make his head hurt when the phone finally rang and Rachel decided to release them, at least for the time being.

* * *

Connor was pleasantly surprised when Danny turned the video game on and he discovered that it was the kind of game that his mother never would have let him play. It was the kind of game that had far too much violence in it, which he had tried to convince his mother to buy him on numerous occasions.

Bass walked out to find Connor and Danny on the couch playing video games. He walked up behind them and moved to rumple his son's hair, but at the last minute he thought better of it and stopped himself, instead moving to grab onto his son's shoulders and give them a gentle squeeze.

"I bet you're winning, right?" He asked proudly.

"It's his game and I've never played it before," Connor pointed out in an annoyed tone. "Of course I'm not winning."

"He's probably cheating anyways," Bass insisted. "Never trust a Matheson to play fair. You remember that stunt he pulled playing football?"

Charlie walked out of the kitchen then and immediately made a beeline for the couch. She jumped onto the seat in front of her brother and pushed her weight back with her spine against him.

"What the hell, Charlie?" Danny complained as he attempted to see the screen past her and to not let the weight she was pushing against him effect his controls.

Miles walked out of the kitchen, with his brother at his side, to spot the pair and instantly let out a laugh. "It's about time that you get a taste of her cheating against you instead of for you, kid."

Danny did not seem to agree as he continued to half-wrestle his cackling sister while still playing.

"You know, that was a lot cuter when you were little, Charlie," Ben pointed out.

Bass, on the other hand, had a slightly different opinion on the matter as he watched Charlie with a grin on his lips.

"Actually, I don't think Mom ever found it cute," Charlie countered as she slid off of her brother and into the spot between him and Connor.

"I can't believe that you left me alone with Rachel while she was in interrogation mode," Nora hissed out as she walked into the room. She glared over at her boyfriend as she questioned, "Remind me again why _I'm_ the one getting cross-examined about when _you_ plan on proposing."

"Because she knows that you're the one really in charge of this relationship," Miles responded in an attempt to suck up to his clearly angry girlfriend. Any brownie points that won him, however, were immediately lost when he was unable to hold back a laugh at her expense.

"It's not funny," she insisted as she shoved him in the shoulder. "Why don't _you_ go in there and get questioned about it?"

"I think I'll stay out here with you," Miles countered.

Nora shook her head in disbelief, clearly not buying the excuse, but he still managed to get her to crack a small smile at that. It didn't really matter anyways, since Rachel walked out of the kitchen less than thirty seconds later.

Charlie glanced over at her brother then as she commented, "I thought of another way that they end up engaged. Nora getting pregnant and Miles half-assed proposing on the spot or after disappearing for a day."

"Fine. If you get to bet on another one, then I call proposing in the middle of Mom dropping not so subtle hints, just to make her stop," Danny countered, earning himself a warning look from his mother.

"Or proposing just because they run out of excuses not to," his sister added.

"Spontaneous proposal neither thinks through and they get married within two hours of it."

"Are you two seriously betting on how we get engaged?" Miles asked them.

"Can we get in on this too?" Nora questioned.

"You can't just decide and bet on how you're going to get engaged to win this bet and take our money for it," Charlie insisted.

"Well then we'll just have to get somebody else to make a bet for us," Miles decided.

"Something tells me that won't work after you planned that in front of us," Danny pointed out.

"Fine, we can make bets on when it'll happen as soon as Miles leaves the room," Nora suggested.

"Right because you won't tell him when to propose just to take our money," Charlie retorted.

"What? We would never," Miles insisted, sounding a little too offended by the suggestion, considering he was already wondering just how much money they could take his niece and nephew for.

"What makes you so convinced that they aren't already engaged and aren't just screwing with you because you all keep asking?" Connor questioned.

Miles cracked a grin at that, then looked over to Bass as he commented, "I like him. He's smart... He must have gotten that from Emma."

"His brain's all Emma alright," Bass responded in an amused tone.

* * *

Charlie finally managed to get Bass alone for a minute in the hallway, where she was pretty sure that he had shown up intentionally following her.

She paused beside him, halfway down the hallway, and leaned back against the wall as she smiled and pointed out, "You're definitely good with him. Or are you still trying to deny that?"

He grinned back and moved closer to her as he told her, "I might be successfully bribing him into liking me."

"And what about me?" She questioned as she draped her arms around his shoulders. "How do you plan on bribing me into liking you?"

Bass ducked his head down and brought his lips to hers, then immediately pulled back to tease, "Do you like me now?"

"I haven't decided yet," she responded. "I think I need a little more convincing."

"Oh, really?" He taunted. "Well how about this?"

His first kiss had been short and sweet. It was pleasant, but had left quite a bit to be desired. This time, it was much more aggressive as his mouth moved roughly against hers. She bit down on his lower lip in return and he lowered it to allow her tongue access. He quickly took over again though as he pressed against her further, pushing her back against the wall.

She was left breathless by the time that he finally pulled back as she panted out, "Much better."

"That's what I thought," he responded smugly as he took the tiniest fraction of a step back from her.

"You know, Connor does seem to be getting along with Danny pretty well," Charlie pointed out. It was true. The two had been happily playing video games ever since the dinner had ended. "Maybe I could talk him into babysitting sometime and we could go on a date where we don't have to hide in a hallway to have any kind of real conversation."

"That would be nice," Bass agreed.

* * *

Charlie and Bass both knew that they were walking a thin line on how much they could get away with in front of Connor, especially since he already seemed less than thrilled with the idea of them being together, so when Bass stopped in front of their apartment building they exchanged a pleasant, but somewhat awkward, goodbye and a smile before she got out of the car.

"Really?" Connor asked within seconds of her door shutting. "You're not even going to kiss her?"

"What?" Bass asked as he turned around in his seat to look at his son. He had wanted to kiss Charlie, but had been holding back for his son's sake and now he was being mocked by his ten year-old son, who he was certain had far less experience with women than he did, for it.

"If you're expecting another date, then you probably should have kissed her," Connor insisted. "Or at least walked her to the door instead of just sitting here. What, are you afraid to kiss her?"

"I'm not afraid to kiss her," Bass argued, but decided against defending himself by citing the make-out session that he'd had with her earlier that night, or the one they'd had when he had fallen asleep during the movie on their first date, or even the kiss that had led to him asking her out in the first place.

"Then you'd better hurry up before she gets inside."

* * *

Charlie was searching for her keys, just outside of her door, when Bass caught up with her.

She seemed surprised when she spotted him as she asked, "What are you doing up here?"

Bass shrugged. "You forgot this."

He leaned forwards and gave her a goodbye kiss that admittedly got her mind thinking about just how close of proximity they were to her bed or, hell, even her couch. She definitely was not complaining, but she had not been expecting a goodnight kiss considering he was driving her home with his son in the car.

"What about Connor?" She questioned when she came up for air. "He's pretty smart. I don't think he'll have any problem figuring out what you came up here for."

"Turns out he thinks he knows more about dating than I do and pressured me into coming after you," Bass told her.

"Well, I can't argue with his advice," she informed him. "Kid's going to grow up to be a real lady-killer like his dad."

As she glanced back down and grabbed her keys out of her bag, he told her, "Good night, Charlotte."

She raised an eyebrow at the use of her whole name before she responded, "Good night, Sebastian."

* * *

As Bass sat back down in the driver's seat of his car, his son questioned, "Did you chicken out?"

"No. I didn't chicken out."


	9. Chapter 9

Connor was surprised when Scanlon came and sat down next to him at lunch on Monday. He narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously as he waited to see if the other boy was going to mock him for skipping the party on Friday.

"I thought you were coming to my birthday party," he commented.

Connor internally cringed. There it was. And yet the words hadn't come out as cruel as he was expecting. He just sounded curious.

"I was busy," he responded, feeling a little defensive regardless of whether the other boy's words had come out sounding hostile or not.

He heard a laugh behind him and then a voice he despised insist, "He just did you, and everyone else, a favour by not showing up."

Before Connor had to decide whether to acknowledge Ed's comment or not, Scanlon had already turned around in his seat and, without hesitation, shot back, "I'd rather have had him there than you."

A smirk formed on Connor's lips as he turned around to see the shocked look on Ed's face.

* * *

Charlie was surprised when Connor came to the car later than usual at the end of the day. Usually, he couldn't get away from school fast enough and when he got in the car he'd stare out the window without a word, but this time there was a smile on his lips as he got in.

"Someone's in a good mood," she accused.

"You should have seen it," Connor told her. "The guy I got in a fight with tried to bother me about not going to Scanlon's party and then Scanlon told him he was the one he didn't want there. In front of everybody."

"Sounds like this Scanlon kid's not half bad," Charlie pointed out. She was glad that Connor seemed to be making a friend at school. The kid could use someone his own age to hang out with. She hesitated for a moment, then when he didn't speak up again, she decided to change the subject. "You like Danny, right?"

Connor paused for a moment, then responded, "He's okay I guess."

That wasn't quite the ringing endorsement she had been hoping for, but it was more than he had said in Miles' favour at least.

"Do you think, if he doesn't have anything else to do, that he could come over on Friday and play some video games with you for a few hours while I'm out with your dad?" She asked.

It was silent for a few seconds and Charlie was starting to wonder if asking had been a mistake when Connor finally spoke up. "Can he bring the game we were playing last time?"

A wide smile tugged at Charlie's lips. "I'll ask him."

* * *

Charlie decided to make a stop on her way home. She strolled into her parent's house and a beaming smile formed on her lips when she found Danny making a sandwich in the kitchen.

"Tell me, favourite brother of mine, what are you doing this Friday night?" She asked in a chipper tone.

Danny paused what he was doing and narrowed his eyes at his sister. "What are you about to talk me into?"

"Well, I haven't been on an actual date with Bass yet," she told him. "Between everything that's been going on and Connor adjusting to it, we haven't had the chance to go out by ourselves. So, I was wondering if maybe you would go to Bass's place and keep an eye on Connor while we go out for a few hours. He seems to like you and you guys could probably just play video games or something."

Danny opened the fridge and pulled out the mustard, then turned back to his sister and responded, "Okay, yeah."

"Really?" Charlie asked. "That easily?"

"We're just going to hang out and play video games. Right?" He asked. "That doesn't sound that hard."

* * *

When Friday night came around, Bass was expecting Connor to be a little more sorry to see him and Charlie go. Instead, he was a little irritated with just how unconcerned Connor seemed with the fact that they were leaving.

"We won't be gone that long," he assured his son.

"Yeah. Okay," Connor told him in a distracted tone without lifting his eyes as he flipped through the games Danny had brought with him.

Bass shot Charlie a look. Shouldn't Connor be a little more upset about this? Or was this him annoyed? Either way, Bass wasn't convinced that his son had heard a word he had said.

Charlie wasn't sure what was going on either, but she figured it was a good sign that he would at least get along with Danny while they were gone.

Connor finally glanced up at where the pair was hesitating in the doorway as he questioned, "What are you two still doing here?"

"Well, I guess you should be fine without us then," Bass commented with a slight edge to his tone as he took a half step back towards the door. Had Connor been so distracted that he hadn't even realized they were still there? What? Had he gone completely invisible for a minute?

"Uh-huh," Connor responded as he went back to looking at the back of the game. Yup, this one was definitely too gory for his mother to have ever let him play and it had a warning about the inappropriate language used in it. He was going to play it first.

Bass looked over at Charlie helplessly, but she just grabbed him by the arm and began to lead him towards the door. With every step backwards, Bass's eyes remained firmly planted on his son, taking in how he couldn't even be bothered to watch them go.

When the door to his apartment clicked shut behind them, Bass asked, "What the hell was that?"

Charlie shrugged. "He was pretty interested in the games Danny brought, I guess."

"He thought we had already left," he pointed out. "While I was still talking to him. That has to be fake, right? I mean, is he pissed at me for leaving without him, or what?"

"It seemed like he was in a pretty good mood to me," Charlie countered. "I think if anyone's worried about us leaving him, it's you."

"What? I'm fine," Bass insisted. "I mean, he seems perfectly content to get some time away from me. I'm not worried about it."

She still wasn't entirely convinced, so she assured him, "Danny can handle looking after him. I promise."

* * *

They were at dinner when Charlie tentatively pointed out, "You know, my mom did have a point with some of those questions she asked."

"Uh-uh," Bass insisted with a shake of his head. "No. That isn't first date conversation."

"You just want to avoid talking about anything too serious," she accused.

"Damn right, I do," he agreed. "I plan on dealing with all of that only when I have to and no earlier."

"Easy for you to say," she pointed out. "You're not the one getting paid by someone you're going to end up sleeping with."

"Oh, so you're planning on sleeping with me?" He responded with a wide grin.

"I'm serious," she pointed out. "I mean, it kind of complicates things. And we both know what people are going to think."

"So you want me to stop paying you?" He asked. "And then, what? You'd be working for free for someone just because you're going to end up sleeping with them? That doesn't seem like a great answer either. Besides, you need the job. Don't you?"

Charlie frowned. He was right. Her rent and bills did need paid. She couldn't really afford to be jobless, but at the same time she didn't want to be the younger woman making money off of the older guy she was sleeping with. But she also didn't want to abandon Connor to some new babysitter either. She knew it would take a while for him to warm up to anyone new and she was sure he would be upset if she quit seeing him as much because she was dating his dad.

Thinking things through really sucked.

"I need _a_ job," she agreed, then shrugged. "Maybe I can find something else. Work a shift during the day and still be able to pick Connor up after school."

Things had suddenly become a lot more real and serious. She was talking about getting a new job and working her schedule around his kid.

"Are you sure you'd want to do that?" He asked. "I mean, I could figure something out. You could still hang out with Connor sometimes without having to play babysitter and do twice the work."

"I like watching Connor," Charlie pointed out. A small smirk formed on her lips as she told him, "Besides, you try telling him he needs a new babysitter."

"Good point," Bass admitted. "We can figure the rest out later though. For now, I think it's about time we get back to the first date talk."

"Like what?" Charlie asked with a laugh. "Do you want me to tell you about my family? Or where I grew up? I think you already know all that stuff."

* * *

When they entered Bass's apartment again, later than either of them had been expecting, they were greeted by the sound of the TV that no one had bothered to turn off. Danny had fallen asleep in the chair he was curled up in and didn't stir as they quietly closed the door behind them. Connor must have though, since his head slowly popped up. He sat up on the couch and absentmindedly rubbed at one of his eyes as he gazed over at them.

Bass perked up a little when he saw that his son had been trying to wait up for them. He felt a little better about Connor's complete lack of concern earlier as he told him, "It is definitely past your bedtime."

"I don't have a bedtime," Connor pointed out. "You never gave me one."

"Well I'm giving you one now," he responded.

"Then what is it?" Connor questioned.

Bass faltered for a moment as he tried to determine what would be an appropriate bedtime for a ten year-old, then answered, "I don't know. But it's definitely earlier than this."

* * *

Bass got his son to bed, then returned to the room to find Charlie placing a blanket over her brother.

"It's already pretty late, so he's probably better off if we don't wake him up," she explained.

"You're right, it's late to be driving home," Bass agreed. Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. She could see just what he was trying to pull. "You should probably stay too."

Charlie glanced over at her brother out of the corner of her eye to make sure that he wasn't just pretending to be asleep and listening in before her gaze shot back to Bass. The corner of her lip pulled upwards involuntarily as she told him, "I guess you're right."

* * *

Charlie could feel Bass's eyes following her movements as she tugged her jeans down over her legs and kicked them aside. She turned to meet his gaze, only to end up distracted by the clothing that he had removed in the meantime. His shirt was already off and she slowly crawled into bed as he unbuttoned his pants.

He got into bed beside her, then positioned himself over her as he braced his weight on his forearms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her, kissing him hungrily.

He was getting in his own head. He knew it and yet he couldn't seem to stop it. He had Charlie in his bed and he wanted nothing more than to give her his full attention, but his mind kept shouting at him that Connor could get back up at any moment and the last thing he wanted was for his kid to walk in on them. Connor was already having enough trouble with what was going on between him and Charlie and, maybe Bass wasn't winning any parent of the year awards any time soon, but at least he knew enough to be concerned about his ten year-old walking in on him with a girl.

Bass was just about to voice his concern when Charlie pulled her mouth away from his and glanced over his shoulder at the closed door. Clearly he was not the only one that was unsure about how much further they should let things go for the night.

"Maybe it isn't the best idea when my kid's down the hall, probably still awake, and your brother could wake up at any point," he admitted.

"Maybe not," Charlie agreed.


	10. Chapter 10

"Are we really just going to watch sports all night?" Connor groaned. "What's the point?"

"I see," Miles responded. "You want to make things more interesting. Well, the best reason to watch sports is to gamble on them. Want to make a bet? I'll let you pick which team you think's going to win. Loser pays the winner fifty bucks."

"I'm ten," Connor pointed out. "Do you really think I have fifty bucks to bet on a stupid football game?"

"Alright. I've got a better deal then," Miles offered. "Loser sleeps on the couch. Winner gets your bed tonight."

After all, Connor's room had been where Miles had slept over when he was a little too drunk to drive before the kid had shown up and taken it over and Miles' was not eager to experience the pain that was waking up on Bass's couch again.

"Uh-uh," Bass insisted as he walked back into the living room with a beer in each hand. "No way. You're not making him sleep on the death couch."

"Fine," Miles gave in with a dramatic sigh. "But the kid says he doesn't have enough money for a real bet, so I guess you're going to have to fund his side of the original offer."

Bass handed Miles his beer as he suspiciously asked, "Which is what?"

"Connor chooses which team he thinks will win and if he's right, I give him a hundred bucks," Miles responded. "But if he's wrong, then you scarf up a hundred bucks on his behalf. It's perfect. The kid's got nothing to lose."

"Fine," Bass grumbled out reluctantly as he took a seat next to his friend. "But you're sleeping on the couch."

* * *

"How are things going with Bass?" Nora questioned as she got settled on the couch in Charlie's apartment. A smile formed on her lips as she asked, "Have you two had sex yet?"

"No," Charlie responded. "I mean, it's not like we didn't want to. But Connor was there and Danny was asleep in the living room and it kind of killed the mood."

"Sounds like you guys need someone to watch Connor overnight," Nora commented.

"That's the plan," Charlie agreed. "Assuming we can find someone Connor would be willing to have babysit him for that long."

"Well, I'm sure I could convince Miles to help me watch him sometime," Nora offered.

"Thanks," Charlie responded. "Maybe if we're lucky, Miles'll grow on Connor a little tonight."

* * *

"Oh no. Too bad!" Miles commented with a giant smirk spread across his features as the game came to an end. "Looks like I win. Better pay up, Bass."

"The game just ended," Bass pointed out. "What? You can't wait five minutes for your money? You just came here to drink my beer and use my kid to help you take my money?"

"Something like that," Miles agreed. "Now pay up or else I'm switching deals and making him sleep on the couch."

"You're a sore winner. You know that?" Bass insisted as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. "You should work on that."

"I don't need to work on anything," Miles responded as he snatched a hundred dollar bill out of Bass's hand. "I'm already good at winning."

"Gloating about defeating a ten year old is a really good look on you," Bass told him sarcastically.

"A win's a win," Miles pointed out. "And it's your money I'm taking. Now, since you mentioned your beer, why don't you go get me another one?"

"Only because I'm not drunk enough to be around you for the rest of the night," Bass insisted as he rose to his feet.

As soon as Bass had left the room, Miles pulled his wallet out and put away his new hundred dollar bill. Connor was surprised when he pulled out a fifty dollar bill and handed it over to him.

"Here's your cut, kid," he said as Connor took the bill from him. "I knew I could sucker your dad into doubling the bet. Now we both win."

Maybe Miles was annoying and his presence meant they were stuck watching sports, but at least Connor was up fifty bucks.

* * *

The next morning, Charlie let herself into Bass's apartment to find her uncle snoring with one arm dangling off of the couch. Apparently the sound of the door had woken Connor up, since he appeared in the hallway as Charlie set her bag down. Then again, it was pretty late in the morning. Maybe Connor had already been up when she had arrived.

Miles was asleep on his stomach and a smirk formed on Charlie's lips as she crept over to the couch and then jumped on top of him, landing on his back.

Miles woke with a start as Charlie burst into laughter.

"Good morning, Miles."

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Miles groaned out. "Get off of me."

She obliged and Miles let out a series of grunts as he rolled over.

"I forgot how much I hate this couch," he complained. "Help me up."

Charlie grabbed his outstretched hand and yanked him up as she glanced in Connor's direction and asked, "Is your dad still sleeping too?"

Connor nodded his head.

"Why don't you go wake him up in horrendous fashion?" Miles questioned. "I bet he's pretty hungover too."

"I'll be back," Charlie assured them as she headed down the hallway, past Connor.

"Good. I'm starving."

* * *

Charlie opened the door to find that Bass's room was dimly lit by a few rays of light from the gloomy morning streaming in through the window. He was asleep on his side with one arm underneath his pillow, protectively clutching it in place. The covers were resting halfway up his torso and she could see that he was shirtless.

She padded into the room, careful not to wake him prematurely, then leapt onto the side of the bed next to him. For a moment he stirred with his eyes still closed, then he opened them and smiled when he spotted her.

"Good morning, Charlotte," he greeted her. His was voice came out hoarse from lack of use. "What are you doing here?"

"Morning," she responded cheerily. "Disappointed to find me in your bed?"

"Not at all," he assured her as he rolled onto his back. "Just wondering what I did right to get you here."

"I came to see how last night went," she replied. "With Miles and Connor."

"I think they got along alright," he responded. "Miles ripped me off a hundred bucks though."

"Well, Connor's hungry and Miles sent me to wake you up," Charlie told him. "So, unfortunately, we're going to have to get out of bed."

"Too bad," he agreed.

"I guess they could wait a minute or two longer," she admitted, then moved to kiss him.

He kissed her back hungrily for a moment, then pulled away before things could get too heated. He knew from experience that Connor was not patient when he was hungry, so he figured they'd better not push their luck.

"Alright, I gotta take a leak," he told her. "I'll meet you out there."

"See you out there," Charlie agreed, then reached past him to pull the covers off of him, revealing black boxers and a pair of muscular legs. She let the covers fall back as she rose from the bed. A grin formed on her lips, then she teased, "Too bad."

"What? Were you checking if I was naked under here?" He questioned.

"Maybe," she responded with an innocent shrug.

"I don't tend to sleep naked with Miles and Connor around," he told her. "I didn't know you were going to be here. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Fair enough," she replied as she backed towards his bedroom door. "But soon then?"

"Soon," he agreed. "I mean, if you want to stay and have a little peep show while I'm taking a piss, then I'm not going to stop you. But…"

"I think I can wait," Charlie assured him before slipping out of the room.

* * *

"What's with the pajamas?" Connor questioned when his father walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. He was still shirtless, but he had thrown on a pair of dark blue plaid pajama bottoms.

"What do you mean?" Bass challenged.

Connor was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of Frosted Flakes while Charlie searched for more bowls and Mikes grabbed more spoons. Connor set his spoon back in his bowl and stared his father down as he pointed out, "You never wear pajamas."

"Yes I do," Bass responded a little defensively as Charlie passed him a bowl.

"No. You only wear them when Charlie's here," Connor insisted. "Otherwise you walk around in boxers all morning."

Miles was clearly amused as he commented, "You know. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to try to take your pants off around girls, not put more clothes on."

"Yes. Thank you," Bass responded sarcastically as he sat down across from his friend. "I have a kid. I think I know how sex works."

"Beginner's luck," Miles insisted.

Well, he wasn't wrong about that. Emma had been Bass's first. That didn't mean he had to admit Miles was right though.

"And how well has it worked out for you, just taking your pants off around any girl you're interested in?" Charlie challenged.

"Hey, you don't know what Nora's into," Miles pointed out.

"That's definitely not how you two got together," Bass commented with a laugh. "So none then."

"It's still a better strategy than yours," Miles insisted with a shrug.


End file.
